Living in Batumi

A city that grew by half in ten years

The 2024 census counted 235,668 people in Batumi, 54% more than in 2014 — the fastest growth of any Georgian municipality. Adjara, the region around it, grew by 20.7% while most regions lost residents (Geostat).

Batumi has been reshaped since 2010 by modern high-rises and the restoration of its 19th-century old town. It is the capital of the Autonomous Republic of Adjara and one of Georgia’s main ports.

Climate

Batumi has a humid subtropical climate: mild winters without much snow, warm and humid summers. The average temperature is about 7°C in January and 23°C in August, and the sea reaches about 25°C in July and August.

It is one of the rainiest places in the region, with roughly 2,500 mm of rain a year, because the nearby mountains catch the humid air coming off the sea. Autumn is the wettest season; May is usually among the driest months.

Getting there and around

Batumi International Airport, on the southern edge of the city, had 31 scheduled routes to 26 destinations in 13 countries in June 2026. Regular flights to Tbilisi resumed on 25 June 2026.

Kutaisi airport, with more low-cost flights to Europe, is about 2.5–3 hours by road; the train from Kutaisi Airport station takes about 1.5–2 hours. Tbilisi is 350 km away: about 5 hours on the modern Stadler train, which stops only at Kutaisi Airport, Ureki and Kobuleti.

To the south, the Sarpi crossing into Turkey lies just past Kvariati.

Schools and university

International schooling is more limited than in Tbilisi. Directories list three international schools in Batumi. American International School Progress teaches in English and Georgian, with Russian and German also taught, for around 400 pupils. Batumi British International School follows a Cambridge curriculum for younger children, and a European School campus offers IB and Cambridge programmes.

Across Georgia, 54 schools teach in Russian, either entirely or in a Russian-language section, and the recent growth has come almost only in Tbilisi and Batumi. Higher education is led by Batumi Shota Rustaveli State University.